Martin Mystery: New Beginning
by Saiyan5Nine-tails
Summary: NOTE: This is the same as New Beginnings, but it has been given an over-haul. Fresh new reviews of the new version would be much appreciated.
1. New Beginning

Martin Mystery: New Beginnings

It has been three months since former Center Agent Octavia Paine tried to destroy the center with a powerful "super creature", but failed with the intervention of the agents Diana and Martin. Many would find it hard to believe that they are actually brother and sister due to their opposite personalities and interests, and that they are agents of a secret organization. Everyone at Torrington knows these two as siblings, and that while Diana is a genius student, sociable and accepted, and by the rules, Martin can be described as uncontrollable, always dirty, doesn't focus on his work (except his center job) and all the girls try to avoid him, but none know (of course) that they're Center agent. But that will soon change, as an old face from their childhood years, forgotten due to High School life and Center business, will soon come to Torrington, knowing more than one is supposed to…

Torrington Academy – Quebec – 9:35 P.M.

Diana is taking the time to reorganize her room, and preparing for the next test, which was two weeks from then. Diana commonly crammed for tests weeks ahead of when it usually happens, and to her credit always aces them due to her cramming. _Well, I think that's enough for tonight,_ Diana thought to herself as she closed the book she was studying from, and proceeded to tidy up her room. As she was going through her closet, she noticed something she had almost forgotten: a box filled with memories from her life prior to becoming a Center agent. As she was carrying them to the bed, a familiar and annoying face slammed the door open, scaring Diana into almost dropping the box.

"Hey, Diana, what's in the box?" asked Martin. Martin is understandably a great annoyance to Diana, in school life and on missions. He was always playing pranks, making jokes about her, and generally always had a hair-brained theory on what paranormal creature they face on missions, and had a fascination for slime, something Diana detests.

"Martin, you almost made me drop it!" Di complained to Martin, "If you must know, this box has memories of precious moments from before we were agents."

"Really, and just what kinds of memories are they?" Martin asked slyly, as he looked over Diana as she looked at the contents. To him, such things were of barely any interest, as he remembered them well; such as a shell from the time they spent on the beach with their father, and a card for their parent's wedding. One article that did catch his attention however, was an old photo of them with their father and another family either them just couldn't remember: it was a father and his son, both of them both had a defining feature of having silver-white hair, and it seemed that the boy was enjoying himself with the two of them. "This old photo…it seems that it was taken almost 7 years ago," Diana stated, "but I can't seem to remember who they are?"

"I'm not sure either Diana, but it must have been a good time, since we all look so happy. 'Sigh', but so much has happened since then, it's not hard to believe that we could forget."

"I guess you're right Martin," Diana said, as she looked at the boy. "I must have been very close to him," Diana said, noting the fond look she was giving the boy, and he to her as they held hands, "if we were looking at each other like that."

"Well, it sure looks like it," Martin added, making the same observation.

"Well, that's all in the past," Diana said, as she put the picture on her desk, "But I'd like to remember who he was. Maybe if I keep it out, I'll eventually remember. By the way," Diana said, looking at Martin, "why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh! I almost forgot. Paranormal weekly decided to renew my subscription, isn't it great!"

_That's all you disturbed me for?_, thought Diana, as she proceeded to practically drop-kick Martin out of her room. _The things he thinks he has to tell me about!_

The next day, outside the school, a white van pulled up to the school front. A boy stepped out of the vehicle. He got his bags out of the back of the truck, and closed the door, as the truck drove away. No words needed to be exchanged in concerns to the boy's coming to Torrington; he and his father knew the reasons.

_The last time I was here, _he thought to himself, _I was nearly cut in half. Well, I can only hope I can get a fresh start. _Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the school.

Later on in the day, Diana was talking with Jenni about a new transfer student to Torrington. "Really," Diana said, "we are getting a new student?"

"That's right," Jenni said, "I saw him exit the principal's office the other day. He was knock-out gorgeous." She added, with hearts in her eyes and hands in fists.

"He was that handsome?" Diana said, her interest peaking. "Did you speak to him?"

"Sadly, no," Jenni said, seemingly defeated. "He seems to be a mysterious kind of guy, though, because even though I followed him, he vanished from my sights, and his very appearance adds to it."

"He does seem like that," Diana added, "so, what did you do next?"

"I went to Principal Pebbleton of course. He told me what I asked about him, including his name."

"Well, what is his name?"

"His name is one of coolest I have ever heard, and he is already cool from what I saw of him. His name…," Jenni said, and sighed. "His name is Isaac."

"Isaac?" Diana asked. _Why does that name…_

"Di, do you know him," Jenni asked, seeing her friend's surprise.

"No, I don't…at least, I think I don't. It just sounded familiar…Isaac."

"Even if he is good-looking and all, I hope he is also nice and well mannered," Jenni continued, "I mean, it will be nice to have a new guy in the school that actually behaves himself." She added, referring to Martin.

"Well, all you have to do is see for yourself," Diana responded, still puzzling over his name. _Strange how it sounds familiar,_ she puzzled, as Jenni went on.

"I heard Java was supposed to show him around the school, so all I have to do is find Java to find this Isaac."

"I sure hope that I get to meet him," Diana stated.

"Oh, don't worry Di," Jenni said, "we'll probably see him in the cafeteria if he's new."

"Hello, Diana," Java stated, "it very nice day."

"Yes, it is," Diana said, as she set her tray down. "Java, you seem to have something special planned for me today, don't you?"

"That Java do," the caveman said, and reached under the counter, he bowled out a bowl of ramen. "Ta-dah!"

"Java," Diana said happily, since during her brief stay in Japan over a month back, this was one of her favourite meals, "did you whip this up just for me?"

"Java no whip it up for Diana," Java said innocently, "Java ask someone to whip it up for Diana. He just come from Japan. New student, name Isaac."

"So he is a Japanese student," Diana asked Jenni.

"Well, he came from Japan," Jenni said, "but by no account is he Japanese."

"Well then what does he look like?"

As Jenni was about to answer she looked back to the cafeteria, and gasped as she saw someone wearing a blue trench coat and black pants and shirt, sitting at a table. "That cutie's Isaac!" Jenni stated, turning Diana's head to Isaac's direction.

_That's_ _Isaac, _Diana thought in wonder, but while Jenni was infatuated with him, Di just couldn't help but realize that he looked all too familiar. Isaac had two distinguishing traits that she recognized (and traits that Jenni must've liked); the first was the most noticeable, as it was his hair color, because it was a silver-white color and slicked back, which gave a prominence to his face, since it showed his blue eyes and kind features. He saw them too, and he waved to them, and smiled sweetly, causing Jenni to nearly faint from fawning over his looks, which brought to mind something she just found. _He looks like an older version of the boy in the picture,_ she realized.

"Java think he want Diana and Jenni to sit with him," Java said cheerfully, encouraging the girls on.

"...Well," Diana said, prepping herself, "I wanted to meet him anyway, but it seems that he wants to see us instead."

As Diana and Jenni walked over to the new student, Java was left to his own thoughts. _During tour, Isaac say he already know Martin and Diana. But Diana and Martin never mention Isaac. So how do Isaac know them?_

"I-is this seat taken," Jenni asked sheepishly from being so close to someone with _such_ hottie material evident; even more so than Taki, who left a long time ago, but not before bringing an awesome band group to Torrington for a Japanese Holiday.

"No, it isn't," Isaac said politely, "please, sit down." He smiled, and Diana and Jenni squealed at how polite he was; no one this polite had come around since Taki, which could be a result of living in Japan.

"I-I'm Jenni Anderson," Jenni said, visibly blushing, "and you are Isaac...right, you _cutie?"_

"Uh," Isaac said mildly, blushing a little on his own, "yeah, I am Isaac. And you must have been the girl who was following me last night." He added, earning a sweat-drop from her, as she chuckled.

"Well, she was," Diana stated, "and if you must know, I am-"

"Diana Lombard," Isaac finished, with an odd hint of remembrance in his voice, "Java asked me to whip up that ramen for you. Well, are you going to try it, and see how it tastes?"

Diana broke apart the chopsticks, and took up a stick-full of ramen noodles. Seeing his expecting look, she ate the first bite, and... "This is incredible," she said as she swallowed, and proceeded to eat the rest, "this is...the best ramen I've ever tasted!

"I'm glad you like it," Isaac said, sounding quite pleased with himself, and very happy to Jenni's ear, "when Java asked me to make it, I couldn't possibly say no."

"You didn't have to," Diana told Isaac, "Java is a pretty good cook himself. But to tell the truth, your ramen is on par, or even better than the Japanese food Java can make."

"Well," Isaac said fondly...very fondly, as Jenni caught on, "I wouldn't discredit the local chef so quickly, though I did learn how to make it during my stay in Japan. He asked me if I could make it for you, and I happily obliged, when I heard it was you."

"You said that as if you know me from somewhere," Diana said puzzled by the very bold statement, "but I can't seem to remember anyone like you."

"Oh," he said with a _very _nervous chuckle, "did I say "for you"? Well, that must have been a slip. But I have to admit...you _are_ practically an angel in my eyes."

Diana's shade went to a shining crimson as Isaac's comment sunk in, and knew that he truly meant every word of it. Jenni looked on in suspense and amazement, as Diana was rendered speechless by that last compliment. _Oh my, _Jenni thought in wonder, _either Isaac is the gentleman of the century, or...he actually is someone from Di's past._

"Um," Diana said, twiddling her fingers, "t-thank you. No one has ever complimented me so directly before, and remained sincere, but that isn't exactly the truth."

Isaac fell silent, as if recalling something. "No is necessarily flawless, Diana. I know that better than anybody."

Jenni's surprise and Diana's blushing stopped right there and then. His tone was...frigid. It was like a complete 180 of what he was like before.

Seeing the confused looks on their faces, he stopped talking. "I have to get going," Isaac said, as he stood up, "I still have to unpack my stuff. See you later?"

"You can count on it," Jenni said normally, and saw him walk off.

"What a gentleman," Jenni exclaimed, "and what a hunk!" She quickly remembered how his voice seemed to drop the room to absolute zero. "...If it weren't for that frigid tone in his voice, he'd be perfect."

"Yeah," Diana said absentmindedly, her thoughts drifting to the picture, "he must be that."

"Diana," Jenni said, noticing her friend's spaced-out look, "what's wrong?"

"Well, I just can't help but think that...I know him from somewhere."

"Are you kidding? Silver hair; the blue trench coat; he's right out of a video game! But still," Jenni admitted, "he does seem to be a bit...odd."

"No it isn't that..." Diana said, and finishing her meal, "there's something I want to show you."

"Okay Diana," Jenni asked, as they stood in her room, "what is it that you wanted to show me?"

"This picture I found in an old box of memories last night," Diana said, picking up the picture, "I couldn't help but see the resemblance of Isaac to this little boy I seem to have once met during the summer seven years ago." She handed Jenni the picture.

"DARLING!" She squealed in glee, seeing the cute, white-haired boy in the picture, holding Diana's hand and looking at her out of the corner of his sapphire blue eyes. "This boy is a _MAJOR _cutie! He is just too adorable!"

"He is," Diana said, "but look at his father."

Jenni nearly went ga-ga over the father too, but was frozen dead by his appearance. The slicked back hair, the sapphire eyes, the black pants and shirt and blue trench coat...she could have sworn she just saw him in the cafeteria.

"Okay, cute _and _creepy," Jenni had to admit, "that man looks_ just _like Isaac."

"I know," Diana said, "and the boy...I can't help but wonder if _he _is Isaac."

"Well then," Jenni said, "why don't you go ask him?"

"...Do I have any other choice in the matter?"

"Oh, hello Diana," Isaac said innocently, "I'm surprised that you were so quick to find me."

"Never mind that," Diana said in urgency, with Jenni standing by, as well as Java, "just what do you know about this picture?" She held up the picture for Isaac to clearly.

He simply smiled. "I see you found it," he stated, and reached into his trench coat...to pull out the exact same picture as Diana. "WH-what...?" she said with a shiver, taking the two pictures and holding them together.

"That same picture," Java said.

"But how is that...?"

"Do you remember now?"

"I...I'm trying to, but I just..." Diana struggled to say, but came short of breath, as her hands trembled, which Isaac grabbed to steady them.

An odd feeling settled in Isaac's stomach. _Is this right, _Isaac thought, _even if the last time we met had me behind a mask, and things between us being left off as less than good... _He had made up his mind; that was the past. He'd tell Diana eventually, but not right away. So, he simply smiled.

"Maybe this will help," Isaac said simply, and to the shock of both Jenni and Java, he leaned forward, and _kissed _Diana on the cheek.

She gasped, and her memory opened like a floodgate. She was soon remembering a summer from nearly seven years ago, and a week where she and Martin were with one of their father's colleagues. She started to remember everything; including the kiss he gave her on the cheek back then, just like the one he gave her just now. "…Isaac?" Diana could only say as her hand went for her cheek, and amazingly, she began to tear up.

Isaac smiled as she finally remembered. "Yes, Diana. It has been seven long years since we last met, hasn't it?"

Diana looked up into those piercing sapphire blue eyes, and saw the innocence that still lingered in them. She began to laugh joyously, and leapt for Isaac in an instant, surprising both Jenni and Java. "I can' t believe it! Isaac, it really is you!" This leap surprised Isaac; he didn't expect the old memories to provoke this kind of reaction. Still, he went with it, and Isaac wrapped his own arms around Diana, albeit a little nervously, something Diana picked up on.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jenni called out, amazed at the reaction, "so you two actually do know each other?"

"We were just kids seven years ago," Diana happily explained, "and that was the only time we ever saw each other, and even then it was only for a week. My god, you are practically the spitting image of your father now."

Isaac sweat-dropped; everyone compared his appearance to his father's. "Not quite the first reaction I expected," he stated with a chuckle, "though what can I say about the girl who helped me so much once."

_This is amazing, _Jenni thought in wonder, as did Java, _only seven years ago for basically a week, and yet they are acting like long-lost lovers. How can kids grow so close to each other in such a short time._

"How did you wind up at Torrington after all of this time?"

"Well," Isaac began, "me and my Dad heard that you were here, so we figured that I could enroll here while he is out in the field. We met your father before we got here."

It stung at Isaac; it was a blatant lie, and he knew it. Still, it was all for secrecy, and some secrets are best kept hidden. "Really," Diana replied, "and he told you how we were doing?"

"Yes, and so did Java here. For an employee, he seems to be very close to you. It's strange, but both your father and Java seemed a bit edgy when I asked them what the two of you do these days."

_That's not a surprise,_ thought Diana, since her father only learned about what they did recently during an incident with a giant worm, and was still getting used to the idea of them as Center agents when they last saw him. Java was good at keeping it a secret, but I guess he was a bit distracted by how a stranger knew her and Martin so well. "Well, I guess he was surprised at how you knew us so well, being since this is the first time he's seen you."

"I guess so," Isaac stated, "Since no one's life is static as the years pass."

"Speaking of life," Jenni said, "just how did you two get to know each other in the first place?"

"It is a long story," Isaac said, "and I hope to tell you later. Java here told me how you and you brother are doing, Diana. I would just like _your _opinion on how…"

"Hey, Java, who's the new guy?" An all too annoying voice called.

Isaac sighed as Martin came into the conversation and with a peculiar look in his eyes as he looked at Martin. "Um, do I know from somewhere," Martin said, and noticed Jenni was there too, "and what are you doing with Jenni?"

Jenni was going to protest, but Isaac held up a picture, and took the picture back in his hands. "You mean to say you don't recognize me, _Marty_?"

"Why would I recognize some guy like you," Martin said nonchalantly, "and besides, you look suspicious."

"I was just asking your sister and Jenni how you were doing,", as he showed Martin the picture, "_Now do you remember?" That's exactly what he thought when I was behind a mask..._

As known by all, Martin and Diana are complete opposites, and that also stretches to their memories of Isaac. Upon seeing the picture and Isaac, Martin's face showed realization… and intense fear. Remembering that week, he screeched at a pitch that cracked the nearby glass, and leapt behind Java, cowering like a little kid.

"What wrong, Martin?" Java asked, picking the still cowering Martin off his back.

Martin's response was instantaneous… not to mention a big mistake. "It's "old-man" Isaac! What's he doing at Torrington?"

Diana and even Java and Jenni wisely chose that moment to step back and watch the show, because even though only Diana remembered that insult about Isaac's hair, Java and Jenni could practically see Isaac annoyed at a level similar to Diana's when she ever hits Martin. Isaac is normally extremely tolerant of insults, but when people, particularly Martin that one summer week, made fun of his hair color, he'd always be very annoyed.

But Martin was the one person who could make his patience snaps faster than anyone else, and when it came to the hair, well… it's a bad idea to make a black belt angry, as Martin, or Marty, as Isaac slyly nicknamed him, painfully remembered as Isaac delivered a uppercut which sent Martin flying into the ceiling.

With both Jenni and Java stunned, Diana quickly explains, "Isaac is a bit touchy about his hair color. He really doesn't tolerate it when people make insults about it, but it seems that Martin doesn't get the hint."

At that moment, Martin fell down from the ceiling, and try to explain his reaction. "I-I-it was just a slip of the tongue. I mean it's been years since I've seen him."

All the while, he was reminiscing about that summer, recalling the number of times he tried to run from Isaac and failed after insulting his hair color, and how before the last day, Diana and Isaac scared the living daylights out of him, causing him to trip over a wire which sent white paint down, and made his "beautiful" blond hair white, and Isaac and Diana laughing themselves to death.

That was his memory of Isaac, and Diana could see right through it. "Really, because as I recall, you routinely made fun of his hair color, and I remember the look on your face when we pulled that prank on you." Diana stated.

"You mean that he got you to pull a prank on Martin," Jenni said, fawning over Isaac, "you are so cool!"

Martin was boiling now, and before his cool blew, a small teenager with a Mohawk-like hairstyle and odd buck teeth came by. "Hey Martin, how are you?" Billy said, before noticing Isaac.

As if the day couldn't get anymore peculiar, it seemed to all present that, impossibly, Billy and Isaac knew each other, as Billy tried and failed to hide the look of recognition on his face, and asked, "So, umm… who is he?"

"This is Isaac; he is an old childhood friend of mine and Martin's. Isaac, this is Billy; he's a friend of ours," Diana answered, keeping an eye on both of them, seeing the obvious, yet improbable signs of recognition on their faces as they shook hands. "So Billy, what are you here for?"

"Oh, that's right," Billy replied, as if he just remembered, "Miss Olivia Mandel wants to see you in the science lab."

Martin, Diana and Java knew what that meant. Miss Olivia Mandel is an alias for their boss, M.O.M., who ran the Center, and just got back on the job after a brief refresher course, given by the C.O.R.E. computer after Octavia Paine assaulted the Center with her monster. "Well, see you later…," Diana said to Isaac, but found him staring out the window, as if he was thinking. "Isaac?"

"Two years," he whispered, and only Diana heard it, "It has been two years, since I've seen you in the face. …" what came next was so quiet, that not even Diana could hear it.

Isaac lifted his face and turned to the group. "Do you mind if I come along?" He asked, with odd interest.

Martin would have nothing of it. "Sorry," He rudely stated, "but Billy said that Miss Mandell only wanted _us," _Martin continued, gesturing to himself, Diana, Java and Billy, "to come to the science lab."

"Maybe," Isaac said, with the smallest amount of force, "but I am new here, and it has been seven years since we last saw each other, so I could at least have the courtesy of meeting the science teacher."

"Look," Diana said to Martin, "he is right. It has been seven years; we may as well show him around."

"But Java already show him science lab." Java said.

"But he hasn't seen the teacher." Diana interjected.

"That's settles it," Martin declared, "We will be going now. Jenni can keep you company."

Jenni seemed to like that idea…but Isaac had other plans. "Really, Martin," Isaac said, causing Martin to turn around, "why do you treat an old friend like so?"

Words would have responded, if not for the look in Isaac's eyes; it even made Java and Jenni step away, as they saw the force in those eyes, and only Diana and Martin knew what it was; in the metaphorical sense, Isaac unveiled his killer's glare. Martin's reaction was rapid, as he began to cower behind Java again. "Okay," he pleaded, "okay! You can come; just don't look at me like that!"

Isaac then closed his eyes and smiled, and his glare was gone, replaced by his normal look. "Well then," Isaac said, acting as if nothing happened. "Shall we be on our way?"

"Just a moment," Diana said, and she told everyone else to leave, while she spoke to Isaac. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, that I forgot about you," Diana stated, "for not remembering you."

"It's okay, Diana," Isaac said, "it's has been seven year, so it isn't a surprise you forgot."

"...Those nightmares you had," Diana said in concern, "do you still have them?"

Isaac smiled. "I don't think I've had one in a long time," he said, "so you don't have to worry."

Diana smiled for Isaac; he used to be afraid of letting anyone get close to him, but she changed that. With that said and done, she and Isaac rejoined the rest of them and went to the science lab, with Martin and Co. wondering why he was so intent on coming, with only Billy knowing why…

As they were waiting in the science room, Martin asked Isaac why he was so eager to come with them. Isaac's only reply was, "I was just thinking about a woman my dad knows, since she has the same name. I thought it wouldn't do any harm to see if they are the same person."

_Not the same Olivia Mandel I know,_ Martin thought, as he reminisced about the impossible school assignments she dealt out. They were _barely _down played from last time, but were still impossible. At the same time, Diana noticed something she never saw before. It was something about his personality, and something about the way he acts as well. That something was practically solved when M.O.M. walked in. _That's it,_ Diana thought, _he acts like M.O.M. when he's serious._

"Good afternoon students." She said.

"Good afternoon, Miss Mandell," Martin, Diana, and Billy said, while Isaac seemed to be smiling, and was on the verge of tears, as Diana noticed.

"Good afternoon…" He started, his voice apparently shaking from…happiness? "…Ms. Mandell."

"And who…" M.O.M said, but began to falter and shake as she saw Isaac, a first her agents saw her do, "are…?"

Before she could finish, she let out a gasp of shock and dropped what she was carrying. Martin, Diana and Java could only stare as they looked at Isaac, and back at M.O.M…to see what appeared to be recognition…and a smile of happiness? What stunned the agents more was the fact that M.O.M, their ever cold-hard and serious C.O., appeared to have tears in her eyes.

"Isaac," She started, her voice still wavering, and tears came down her face from closed eyes, "I'm…surprised you showed up here." Diana was taken aback briefly. Was M.O.M...scared of something?

"I don't see why not," Isaac said as he smiled back, "_**M.O.M.**_"

At that, Martin ran screaming for the back of the room, while Diana and Java could only gawk dumb-founded at that revelation. "You two know each other?" Diana and Java asked in shock.

Martin was at the back with his jaw at the floor and his eyes popping out. To further add to the pandemonium in their heads, Billy switched off his suit, showing the small, green alien that hid underneath, causing Diana's and Java's jaws to hit the floor and eyes to dilate in shock, with Martin reduced to a gibbering wreck in the back.

"You know Billy; I think you looked better in the suit," Isaac said, truly unfazed by Billy's appearance.

"Why, thanks Isaac," Billy responded.

It was Diana who first broke out of the shock from the room of impossibilities, and quickly asked, "What in the world is going on here?"

It was M.O.M who answered, clearing up her tears, and told Diana, Java, and the still gibbering Martin, on how roughly 19 years ago, she was on a mission to capture a Minotaur in Greece, and that Isaac's father, Harold Alexander, was visiting at the time. At first he was just a witness, but later, when she was having trouble with the Minotaur, he appeared out of nowhere and helped her subdue the monster by tackling it to the ground, which allowed her to put a net over the Minotaur. His reason was that he couldn't sit around and have her become a victim of the monster. She stated she could have done it herself alone, but she appreciated the help, as it made it much easier. Eventually, the case expanded to be something greater than a few disappearances, and with another old associate of her, they had to stop a sorcerer from unleashing who knows what from Tartarus.

She said that Harold was allowed to remember, since he aided her in its capture. She then started reminiscing over how they developed a friendship over the years, and even when Harold had Isaac with another woman, they still maintained close connections, and even agreed to tell Isaac about the Center when he was 15 years old, and how she and Billy haven't seen either of them in person since. She also stated how she told the two of them about Martin and Diana being Center agent, a statement that surprised the two of them, and further solved the sibling's questions about how Isaac knew them well enough not to be shocked at their being as agents.

The reaction in the room was mixed. It seemed that both Billy and Isaac had eyebrows cocked at the part about how Isaac's father had him, as Diana noticed out of the corner of her eyes, and Java took it in like a sponge. Martin snapped out of his shock at the end of the story, and spoke. "So let me get this straight. He is the son of some man who helped you in one case and you've maintained ties with him ever since?"

"I had also requested his help on other missions on more than one occasion as well." M.O.M replied. "Anyway, I need you to investigate a series of paranormal disturbances in San Francisco. It seems that the same 4 random people with no known connections have reported strange disturbances and thefts in their homes," And with an oddly determined look she added, "I want you to take Isaac as well."

"WHAT? But he isn't a Center agent, he just knows about it," Martin complained.

"So was his father. Besides, it may be a good experience for him to take on an occasional mission like his father."

"About time," Isaac said with a sudden coldness. "I'm surprised you kept me from the field so long, considering how many other agents my age you let in."

The frigidity of the tone startled the group, and M.O.M replied. "...I didn't think you were ready yet."

"But that is so not fair," Martin insisted, "he hasn't proved himself yet."

"Martin, don't try to back-talk me."

Left stunned, Martin asked Billy for a portal to the first person's house. Soon Diana, Java, and a sulking Martin left through the portal, with Diana leaving last, still pondering over their similarities, and above other things, the description Isaac once gave of his mother.

_No, it's impossible, _Diana decided as she shivered at the thought, _but Isaac did surprise us with how he knows M.O.M_, but stopped, deciding not to dwell on it any longer, and went through the portal, leaving Isaac alone with M.O.M while Billy went back to the Center, leaving Isaac with his eyes on Olivia, as it was her real name.

The air turned serious as Isaac spoke. "_That_ was unexpected," Isaac stated, "sending me on assignment with them so soon."

"Look, after what happened in Japan," M.O.M said, "after hearing what you did...I felt like I had no other choice in the matter."

Isaac heaved a sigh, and looked at her. "If only I could have told them about what I did; maybe things could go easier with them."

"Isaac," she told him, "you are practically thinking of telling them that _you _were practically the one responsible for saving them from a hell of a lot of trouble with Sousuke and his followers."

"I am aware of that," Isaac said, and staring straight into her eyes he said, "_Mother_."

"But it just doesn't feel right," Isaac said; "to keep such a secret from them. I mean, they deserve a right to know who helped them."

"Isaac, when I find out about your involvement, we left your name out of the mission files, so as to not attract any unwanted attention. They will be told when they need to know, and now is not that time."

"Besides," she added, "do you know how they'd respond if we out-right went and told them that you were made an official agent _immediately _after the incident on my recommendations?"

"...I don't know. But I came here on my own free will, so it could at least make it easier for them when they are finally told."

"Look, I don't want to be kept a secret as much as you do, but there are some things that must be kept secret, including for now...the fact that you are my son." She finally admitted it. "Isaac, I have experienced pretty much all the dangers that the life of a Center agent can entail...a part of me didn't want to put you at risk, especially...after what Sousuke nearly did to you."

"You may still act like I am one," Isaac said harshly, "but I am not a kid anymore, even if I am your child. You've recruited many other kids my age into the folds of the Center," he walked towards the portal, "so why hold back on me?"

As he passed through the portal, and it closed, only then could M.O.M answer. "Because I'd never be able to live with myself if anything happened to you..."


	2. Isaac's First Mission

**Isaac's first mission**

As Isaac walked out of the portal, he found Martin right in front of him, tapping his foot in impatience. "It took you long enough," Martin said rudely, "what kept you?"

Before Diana could reprimand Martin, Isaac held up a hand to silence her. "I was just talking to M.O.M. Despite initial appearances, you'll probably be surprised that things between us aren't exactly in a good state."

_Not in a good state, _Diana thought curiously, _but...those were tears in M.O.M's eyes. She seemed to miss him, but..._ "I don't mean to pry," Diana asked Isaac, "but what do you mean by that?"

Isaac spared a glance at her. "That isn't important right now. But I will say that it has to do with her being the manager."

This slightly stunned Diana, and even halted Martin in his tracks. Was this really the same Isaac they knew? After consideration, both decided in the affirmative; they knew Isaac could be cold, but they were surprised that such coldness was directed towards M.O.M.

"Now, shall we get going?" Isaac stated, and walked onto the lawn of their first location to be investigated.

They look at the house of the first person. "It seems quite normal from the outside," Isaac commented, "but it seems the living room is a mess, as if a mini-tornado blew through," he added, peeking through the window.

"It's probably an angry spirit," Martin stated.

"Pardon me?"

Martin then launched into another of his absurd theories. "Think about it," he explained, "it has to be an angry spirit from centuries ago, that felt it was wronged by the ancestors of all the victims, and has come back to seek vengeance."

Exasperation from both Isaac and Diana came as a reaction, and Isaac asked Diana, "Does he always do this?" "Unfortunately, yes he does" Diana responded.

"Keep the theories at bay for now, Martin," Isaac stated, "at least until we hear about what happened from the victim." Going up to the door, he rang the bell.

"Is it all business to you," Martin asked.

"Pardon?"

"Martin," Diana stated, "is this really the time?"

"Can't I be curious? This guy's actually on a real-live paranormal mission, yet he's just about as dull as a hammer. He's not even showing the least bit of excitement."

Isaac decided to perk their interest by dropping this line. "There was something I saw once, and after that, I doubt anything paranormal could excite, or scare me anymore."

They looked at him quizzically. The door opened to show a battered and bruised teenage girl with brown eyes and black hair. Martin had an instantaneous reaction, first gawking at how cute he was, and then launched into an attempt to earn her favor. "My, dear lady, what paranormal evil did this to you? Tell me what it was, and Martin Mystery will vanquish it!"

It didn't work, and she looked at Martin with a puzzled look, with Diana, Isaac, and Java shaking their heads in annoyance at Martin's antics. Quickly shoving Martin aside, Isaac greeted her, "Pardon my friend, he likes to over-dramatize himself, and can't seem to control himself when he sees a pretty face."

"Oh, well I'm Carla. I assume you want to ask me about what happened?" Carla said.

"Of course, we do want to find what or who is responsible for what happened here. May we come in and speak to you about it?"

"All right, I will."

Carla explained to the group as they sat down about how it started three days ago, when suddenly an earthquake shook the house and caused damage downstairs, breaking the furnace in the basement. She thought nothing of it at first, since San Francisco commonly had earthquakes, but for some reason it only happened at her house, and when she came back upstairs, she found that her comb had been stolen. The next day, a myriad of strange things happened, such as her freezer on fire, and slime coming from the sinks instead of water, and then the temperature suddenly plummeted. Just yesterday, she added, a strange force picked her up, and started tossing her around the living room, making her hit everything in the room, making the mess they saw now.

"Hmm, a localized earthquake, a stolen comb, fire in the freezer, slime replacing water, the temperature plummeting far below zero, and then she was picked up and knocked into everything in the living room," Isaac pondered, "I'm not sure about the other incidents, but the stolen comb and the invisible force from yesterday seem to point to voodoo."

"How do you know that?" Diana and Carla asked.

"You can learn things from reading novels."

"Oh, I see," Diana responded.

Besides that, Isaac was thinking about the rest of the disturbances, they were just too random to be the work of one of Martin's angry spirits. "Carla, do mind if we take a look around, see what has happened here?" Isaac asked.

"Sure, why not?"

Starting their investigation in the basement, they saw that the crack started right in the middle of the room and went straight for the furnace. "Interesting," Isaac said, "it starts right in the middle of the floor, and nothing else is damaged."

"We can all see that," Martin said, "but there is nothing down here to indicate poltergeist activity."

Isaac sighed, and looked back at Martin. "What is it with you and your theories," Isaac asked, "for all we know; it could be a variety of things."

"Like your 'voodoo'," Martin remarked snidely. "She seriously thought you were strange when you said that."

"Well," Isaac retorted, "there was evidence to indicate it."

"What, a missing comb," Martin replied, and Diana and Java stepped back to watch the show. "She'd never believe that."

"She probably thinks _you_ are ridiculous," Isaac said, referring to Martin's attempt at gaining her favor.

"At least I have a better chance than you, Ghost Boy!"

Martin had done it; he had issued words of challenge. "You want to bet on that?" Isaac said, with a glint in his eyes.

Diana sighed; it didn't matter how cold Isaac was. You threw a comment at him about his abnormal hair colour, and he'll take the bait of anything Martin threw at him.

"All right then," Martin stated, "here's the rules: If one of us gets Carla to like him (and it will be me), the loser will have to massage Java's feet," and he added with a wry look in his eyes, "_no gloves."_

"Isaac," Diana told him, pulling him away, "I've got to warn you; being a caveman, Java doesn't wash his feet, meaning they are unbearably smelly."

"Is that so," Isaac asked, seemingly oblivious to what could happen to him.

"Yes," Di insisted, "we have to wear gas masks to do it."

With a peculiar look in his eyes, Isaac went back over to Martin and said: "Is that all? What about no gloves, _or a mask and rain check?"_

Martin was almost revolted at the suggestion, but seeing as he didn't want to chicken out, he accepted the bet.

"At any rate," Isaac stated, "besides the tremor, there isn't much evidence to go on. She did mention the kitchen, didn't she?"

After that, they went upstairs, and to the kitchen. They first went to the Refrigerator, which supposedly had a flaming freezer. "After _you." _Martin stated, nudging Isaac forward.

Isaac looked back at Martin, and Diana stared irritated at Martin as well. Isaac went forward, and opened the door. He let out an "EEP!" and bent over backwards, to avoid the jutting fire that leapt out of the fridge.

"HAHAHAHA! Nothing can scare you, huh, Isaac?" Martin was rolling on the floor in laughter, looking at Isaac's shocked face.

Diana promptly stamped on Martin to stop the laughing, and Isaac pulled himself up to the side of the fridge, and drew in a breath of air. He noticed immediately then. "Java, do you smell smoke?"

The Caveman sniffed. "No smoke."

"It's painfully obvious already," Isaac said, as he struggled a little to close the freezer door, "but this fire is definitely not natural."

But as he stated this, he saw Martin's gleaming eyes were already on the sink. "Look at all of the slime!" He exclaimed, and scooped up a handful. "This is definitely poltergeist activity! What did I tell you?"

"Martin," Diana said annoyed, "don't you think we should do a slime scan first?"

"And you shouldn't handle stuff like that so readily," Isaac also lectured, "who knows what it could do you?"

"Sheesh, you two are a bunch of party-poopers." Martin said dully.

Martin activated the U-Watch and selected the slime scan. Taking a small sample from the sink full of slime, he proceeded to scan it. Slime Scan indicates that substance is of complete magical properties. Source, is unknown, the device stated.

"That's strange. If it were a ghost, it would have said so." Martin said, "There goes my spirit theory."

"It said that the slime was completely magical," Isaac stated, "which doesn't make it any easier that it doesn't know its origin."

"So, what do all this?" Java asked.

Before anyone could answer, a scream came from the living room. It was Carla! Knowing she was in danger, the group sped out of the kitchen into the living room to find out what was happening, and what made Carla scream. What they saw caused Diana and Java to scream, but Martin and Isaac to say, "WHOA!" simultaneously. Carla was cowering away from what was obviously a monster, but this monster was pale and lizard like, with ice covering its hand and entire left arm, with ice-like claws, and more importantly, the boys knew it was supposed to be a video game creature. "Wow, a Frost! That's so cool," Martin stated in awe.

"But what's it doing here, and why is it attacking Carla?" Isaac said, stating the obvious.

"You play the game too?" Martin asked incredulously; he always thought Isaac was only interested in books and whatnot, not games like that.

No sooner than the sentence was finished that the Frost became aware of their presence. It was unlikely, but it seemed surprise, but only for a second, as it started shooting ice at them. Everyone managed to dodge, avoiding being frozen, but it shot again, this time catching Martin on the leg in mid-dodge, freezing his lower body solid. It soon turned its attention to Java, but too late, as the strong caveman barreled into the demon, knocking it into the wall. Needing help, both Diana and Isaac headed towards Martin. "Are you OK?" Diana asked.

"Do I look OK?" Martin retorted.

"We don't have time for this," Isaac stated in urgency, "I'm not sure how long Java can hold that thing. We need something to fight it with."

"Well, the best options are the I-Cutter and the X-"

"Just pull out the I-Cutter; I'll be able to get rid of the ice that way."

They stared at him; if he wasn't part of the Center, he should know zilch about the U-watch. "How did you-" Diana asked in wonder.

"Never mind that for now," Isaac stated, "just hurry up already."

"Okay," Martin said, a little annoyed, "but make sure you don't hit anything beside the Frost."

Selecting the I-Cutter, Isaac grabbed the tool as Java was knocked back by the creature and frozen solid. Turning its attention to Carla, it prepared to attack. Seeing he had no time to waste, Isaac fired. The beam sliced into the tail, cutting it off, and it turned into a purple, powdery substance. _This thing must be like the slime, _Isaac realized suddenly, _a whole magical construct. _Damaged and in danger, the Frost smashed through the window, conveniently leaving a trail of purple powder in its wake.

"Aw, look! You let it get away!" Martin whined.

"We don't have time to chase it down. Right now, we need to deal with this mess, and the witness."

With the danger gone, he used the I-Cutter to break the ice that was on Martin and Java. "Java hates being frozen," Java said as he cleaned the ice off him, which also dissolved in to purple powder. Seeing Carla still scared, he went over to comfort her. "Are you all right?" Isaac asked.

He had expected a hug, or a scared thank-you, but what came was completely unexpected: she jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. When Martin saw this, he practically turned to stone and crumbled. Isaac himself was stunned at the reaction, even though he had just won their bet by a land-slide.

"Thank you for saving me, Isaac," Carla said, with the gleam of admiration in her eye, "That thing was about to freeze me solid. You're my hero!"

"Sure, it was no problem at all." Isaac casually responded, who was now turning a distinct red from his hero worship. He wasn't used to such things, since people usually commented on his hair first.

"How did it get in here without making any noise?" Diana asked.

"It just appeared from a cloud of purple wind, like the stuff on the floor. I would have been frozen if Isaac hadn't saved me," Carla explained, looking at Isaac, who looked away as his face turned even redder.

"Okay, that's enough," Martin interrupted, breaking the mood, and snapping Isaac back to reality, "what's important is to find out where it came from, and a bio scan will do just that."

"I agree with Martin," Diana stated, and tugged Isaac out of Carla's arms, and slapped him, knocking the blush right out of him.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to that."

Pulling out the bio scan, he proceeded to place the purple powder onto the scanning plate, and the result was the same as the slime, as Isaac reasoned, completely magical. The creature was basically a big magical construct. They then thanked Carla for her time, and stepped outside with a vial of the dust and a bag of the slime. "We should probably send this to Billy to find out where it came from."

"No need," A small voice said from behind them, startling them. It was Billy. _How he does it, I don't know,_ Martin wondered.

"And how is there no need?" Diana asked a little annoyed.

"Well, since Isaac cut the creature's tail off, it has been leaving a magic trail that we can follow." Billy replied, as he activated a hologram on his chair, showing a moving purple line that kept growing, "That line is the magic residue left by the creature, it will lead us to the source."

"And how do you know that?" Di asked.

"We've encountered magically created demons before, and developed a system to track them. All we had to do is damage one and the magic residue will lead a traceable trail, or we just look for a concentrated mass of magic. They need to be in the presence of their creators in order to be dematerialized back into magic for containment."

"Billy, we don't know what we'd do without you," Martin said.

"Thanks Martin," Billy said as he pressed a button that turned on his human shell, "By the way, M.O.M wanted me to accompany you, since magically constructs are only created by old books of spells, so it could be dangerous."

Martin proceeded to insert a chip that Billy handed him, and soon they had a map that showed where it was going, and followed it, and picked up the pace when it stopped on the map. Isaac was thinking about something else though. It was Billy saying how it could be dangerous that made him figure out why M.O.M sent Billy. _She doesn't want me to get hurt, _he reasoned, as they continued to follow the trail.

They ended up at an old, abandoned building a few miles away. _Perfect to hide magic,_ Martin reasoned as they entered. Sneaking around was very hard, as almost every step made a floor board creek underneath. Hearing murmuring upstairs, it showed that there were four culprits behind this. _Four practitioners, four victims, it made sense_, Diana reasoned as they proceeded upstairs. Opening the door, they saw four figures in hoods around the circle, and the demon being sucked in to a beaker. It also made something else apparent: they were just teenagers. They slowly got up and looked at the door, and Isaac glimpsed something that made his spine shiver: it was a book of spells, and beside that was the object of worry, a crystal ball that showed the group creeping behind the door. _They knew we were coming! _Isaac realized, and at that moment something pulled the door from its hinges, causing everyone to fall forward.

"So you were the ones who interfered in _my _revenge." one of the hooded stated.

Revenge, all of them wondered? Did each of these teens have their own agenda against at least one of the victims? That seems to be the case, as Diana saw; looking by their feet and saw that each of them had voodoo dolls, which must have been for each of the victims. _Each one of them must have used the book to cast spells on the victims,_ she thought, _and used the crystal ball to see it happen._

Figuring out why and how they were doing this was the least of their worries, as one of them started to chant in some ancient language, and his out stretched started to glow a bright purple. A smirk then appeared on his face, "I hope you all have a change of minds about stopping our revenge after this." He then snickered as if he made a joke, blasting the entire group with the energy, knocking them out cold.

"Why did you use that spell?" Johnny asked Mike, after he cast the spell.

"I was just having some fun." Mike confessed.

"It was a good one," Ben replied, "they'll probably be scared stiff when they wake up."

"Anyway, we should move somewhere else, like my basement," Marco the leader said, "There's no chance of them ever finding us there."

They all laughed as they left Isaac, Diana, Martin, Java and Billy lying unconscious on the floor, musing about what will happen when they woke up.


	3. What is the Soul?

As Isaac woke up, he almost felt sick. That shot of energy was enough to knock them all out, but strangely he felt as if his mind was flying through the air during the attack. He dismissed it as shock from the attack and proceeded to dust his yellow and red shirt…SHIRT? YELLOW AND RED? But he wore a trench coat and it was blue! Wondering what was going on, he looked for a mirror and saw…him?

But he must be hallucinating, and hit his head harder than he thought! He ran for the mirror and saw the reflection of a boy with gravity-defying blond hair and brown eyes with a sharp face. He let out a scream that could have waked the dead when he realized who it was. The reflection was Martin's, and he was seeing it through his eyes! A comment quickly ran through his head from when he was last conscious: _I hope you have a change of minds about stopping our revenge after this…_ and it echoed through his head. Those crummy teenagers switched their minds into someone else's body. But if he was in Martin's body, and out of his, then who was…

"MARTIN!"

Isaac (or Martin-Isaac), froze at the voice, as it was his own, but the speaker was someone else he barely recognized. "What's with you, nothing has happened and here you are screaming as if you saw a ghost! What's with you and your pranks, I thought you were in trouble and…wow, what happened to my voice?"

Looking at his own self while not actually himself was disturbing for him, but he soon figured out whom…he really was. The reaction made it obvious, it was Diana! "Are you okay? Tell me, who are you?" He asked in urgency, unnerved that it was Martin's voice who asked.

"What's with you, Martin? I'm your sister, Diana, but I do sound like Isaac for some reason…" was the reply from…Isaac's mouth, but Diana's mind.

Isaac could have passed out. His body referring to itself as Diana was...too surreal. He took back what he said earlier; Sousuke was actually less startling than what was going on right now. At least the Miyabe power wasn't some chaotic force, despite being the more powerful entity. "Are you sure? It's no surprise, just look in the mirror."

So he/she did, and the scream that followed reached a pitch Isaac never thought possible for his voice, as it shattered the mirror.

"What the…I'm Isaac, Martin!"

"Actually, I'm not Martin, at least in the mind. **I'm** Isaac."

"Isaac?" She gave Isaac (Martin, Martin-Isaac, whatever) a quick once over. "Bu-but how is this possible? Why are you in Martin's body and why am I in yours?" There a luminescent blush spreading across Isaac's face that...Isaac saw. He gave Diana a quick slap. "What the heck's that for?"

He put a hand to his...Martin's head. "Just...don't think thought like that in my body; you were blushing."

"Oh, s-sorry..." Diana said, bringing a timid hand to her face.

Isaac shook her. "PLEASE DON'T DO THAT! IT'S TOO SURREAL!" Isaac never did timid in his right mind, and he wasn't going to start with Diana doing it in his body.

Then, Diana punched him. "Get a hold of yourself! And you said nothing could scare you after that one incident."

The punch made Isaac's chest twinge, and since Diana was in Isaac's body, she felt it, and placed a hand over her...well, Isaac's heart. _I see, _Isaac thought, _since it is still tender, Diana felt it._

"Sorry about my over-reacting," Isaac apologized. "What I saw wasn't exactly as chaotic as magic. I guess this just caught me off-guard. I'm still relatively new to it all, after all."

"Isaac," Diana said, and to Isaac's surprise, it was quite soothing to hear his own voice sound so tender. In some ways, it reminded him of his lost innocence, an innocence that Diana seemed to still have. "Just what did happen that made you say that?"

Before Isaac could answer they heard Billy…or Martin or Java groaning. "Java head hurt. And sound like Billy." This showed that Java was in Billy's body.

At the same time, Java, who was actually either Billy or Martin, got up, "Oh, I've got such a headache. I hate magic; it's too unpredictable to trust; now I've got Java's voice." Said whoever Java was at the moment, which obviously was Billy.

They both saw each other, and screamed in surprise and shock of seeing themselves. "Martin, Isaac, what happen?" Billy-Java asked in fear, "Java no longer in own body."

"It must have been the spell; it probably switched our minds to different bodies. Oh, I hate magic," Java-Billy answered.

It was strange to hear everyone's voices as not their own, as it made for many interesting scenarios. Diana was thinking of one at that moment. Since she was Isaac, Isaac was Martin, and Java and Billy were the other, that meant, "That leaves Martin in my body." Diana said, which confused Java and Billy.

"As Billy said," Isaac explained, "the spell switched our minds between the five of us. So," Isaac began stressing his words, "**I'm **Isaac," he pointed to himself, or the body that was himself at least, "**Diana **is in my body, which means, Java and Billy, you two switched, which leaves Martin in Diana's body."

Isaac-Diana shivered. "You're right, Isaac; it is surreal."

"I see," Billy said, "so instead of getting rid of us, they decided to pull a prank on us. That's so immature of them!"

As things couldn't get more complicated, the Center chose that moment to call, making them have to explain the incident to M.O.M. As he activated the caller, a very angry M.O.M immediately asked, "Martin Mystery, what are all of you doing? Two of the victims were attacked by that demon construct, and so had to send another team in since we couldn't contact you after the first attack!"

This made Isaac nervous a lot, since she didn't know what happened, he'd have to explain it to her as Martin, a nervousness that Diana noticed. "You see M.O.M, it's like this…"

So they explained how they hit them with a mind-switching spell, and everyone gave proof that they were someone else. "Oh, dear," M.O.M replied, "reminds me of a case in Cairo where two agents had their minds switched. So you're saying teenagers are doing this, _Isaac_?"

"Yes they are, and just how long were we out for?"

"You were out for six hours."

"Wow, that's a long time."

"Has the other team found out anything?" _Diana _asked.

"As a matter of fact, Agent_ Lombard_, yes they have," M.O.M replied, although she looked a bit unnerved by Diana as Isaac, "We have finally found a connection between them. The teens you're looking for seem to be a group of boys who "do nothing but talk about stuff that isn't real" as one of the victims called Carlos said."

She went on to explain how Carla rejected one of the boys called Mike's proposal for a date, and the one called Carlos fired Johnny for laying down on the job. The boy called Ben was given a failing mark for his semester by a teacher called Mr. Franklin, while the last boy was Marco, whose friend, Mitchell, broke off their friendship when his marks started to fall and Carla convinced him that his friends were distracting him.

"I fear Mitchell may be in great danger, since they probably think he wronged all of them. I need you to head for his house ASAP, because his house is on the same lane that the demon construct was last seen on. He's on the same street as Marco's residence, so hurry before they decide to strike."

"All right M.O.M, see you when this is over," Isaac responded.

Immediately after, an ear-shattering scream vibrated through the room, as Diana, who was actually Martin, woke up and saw his person talking to M.O.M.

"What's going on and why does my voice sound like Diana?" Diana-Martin asked in shock.

Billy explained the basics of what happened, and how Martin came to be in Diana's body. "So all of our minds switched bodies, and mine ended up in Diana's? Cool."

If Martin hadn't been in Diana's body, he would have gotten a double haymaker from Diana and Isaac, and didn't because Diana couldn't hit herself, and Isaac was held by one of his etiquettes: even if they annoyed him a lot, Isaac just couldn't hit a girl, most of all Diana, and that bugged him because it was actually Martin.

"**BEFORE, **we leave," Isaac stated aloud, getting everyone's attention, "I want to make a few things-"

"EEKKK!" Diana-Martin screamed. "But you mean Isaac's in **my **body? THAT'S SO GROSS!"

Diana walked over, and forcibly pulled Martin off the floor. "Not as gross as YOU being in MY body!"

Isaac had enough, and put himself between the two step-siblings. "But neither fact is nowhere near as unsettling, as the fact that you two SWITCHED **GENDER!"**

Diana and Martin froze solid as this realization dawned on them.

"But what about Java and Billy," Java asked. "Java not a Caveman anymore."

"But there's nothing wrong with being an alien, is there?" Java-Billy asked.

"Well, technically, it is still strange, but...not as unsettling for me as a complete gender switch."

He walked over to the two, and Diana could only stare. She was so used to Martin's child-like behaviour, that seeing Isaac in Martin's body...well, even if it wasn't Martin who was controlling his own body, she was stunned by how mature his voice sounded.

He placed a hand on each of their heads (Diana's and his body's). "So you two better not do anything funny with your new bodies until we get our own bodies back, okay?"

Diana-Martin rolled her eyes. "Sis would kill me if I did anything with her body as soon as I got back into my own, so **you **better not do anything strange to my body, okay?"

Isaac took his hand off of Diana-Martin's head, and scratched at Martin's head. "You mean like give you a shower?" He stated, seeing how greasy Martin's hair seemed.

Isaac-Diana chuckled. "That's hair product!" Martin protested. "How else do you think it stays up like that?"

"Okay, okay." He stared at Diana. "As for you, make sure you don't do anything to my body, got it? I'll be very upset if you do."

Isaac-Diana sweated bullets. The look Martin-Isaac gave him/her was so intense; it looked like he'd kill her if he did. She now understood why Martin was so scared of Isaac's look. "O...OK."

He patted her head again and smiled. "That's good to hear. All right then, let's go."

Martin thought this to himself. _Good grief; scarier than a Demon in one moment, but as kind as a saint the next. It's almost as if the guy has a split-personality disorder._

Following M.O.M's orders, the five of them went for Mitchell's house, hoping to reach him before his "friends" did. When they arrived, to their relief, they found Mitchell expecting them. A brief misunderstanding about who's who was solved when they explained everything to him. Frankly, he was shocked. "I can't believe they'd do such things. But then again, they did take my leaving quite painfully, but it seemed that most of it was anger. Who knew they'd do this to me and others."

"You couldn't have known, it was impossible for you to know." Diana said.

"It seems you're right Isaac… I mean _Diana_. It's so complicating, I just can't remember who is actually who."

"Believe me, it a headache enough as it is," Isaac commented.

"Well, you may as well go over there, and put an end to this," Mitchell admitted.

"Don't worry, we'll get them, I told Carla I would," Martin proclaimed.

"Humph, so when will you see her and tell her, before or after you're out of your sister's body"

It was just too much to resist and everyone except Martin burst out laughing, with Martin fuming at them all.

Intent on getting this over with and back to their own bodies, they went to the house, where Marco's mother was forced out by their antics. "I...I don't know what's going on," she whimpered, after everything was explained to her. "There have been problems before with him, but magic and demons? That's just too much! He hasn't been the same ever since he got that book!"

Martin-Isaac nodded. "It isn't surprising; power corrupts, after all. I suggest you get away from her; things might take a turn for the worse."

She nodded, and went over to a neighbour's place while the investigation lasted. He looked over at Diana (or rather, himself), and he noticed she/himself seemed tense. He walked over and placed a hand on his/her shoulder. "Diana, what's wrong?"

"I...I don't know why," she/he whispered, "but I'm getting such an uneasy feeling from that basement door," she pointed to a door that led to the basement from outside. "It feels like...something dark is coming from down there."

Isaac nodded. He found it strange, but he had also felt something strange during every encounter with something paranormal during this mission. It was far stronger when he confronted Sousuke. It was almost as if...his body could sense power.

"Java...or should I say Billy," Isaac told Java-Billy, "Tear that door open."

"WHAT?" Billy yelled in shock at the request. "But I can't-"

"Have you forgotten whose body you are in, Billy?"

Billy paused, and looked down at what from his perspective, were now his large, burly arms. Billy-Java caught on to what Isaac was requesting. "Billy can do it!" He stated. "Java's body is strong."

Billy nodded, and gripping the top and bottom of one of the door, he pulled. The door came off without much effort. "Wow! I never thought I'd see Billy tearing open doors like that." Diana stated in admiration, and she wrapped one of Isaac's arms around Java's right arm.

Java, or rather Billy, blushed at the statement. Isaac decided to let it slide; after all, it more looked like he and Java were acting like old buddies, while he also knew of how Billy felt for Diana.

"Well," Diana-Martin stated, "There was that one time..." and he looked towards Isaac warily, since he believed that Isaac didn't know about Billy's past.

"Don't fret," Isaac suddenly stated, "I'm well aware of Billy's former identity as Ganthar."

This caused measurable shock to the group, Diana in particular. She knew from their interactions earlier at Torrington that Isaac apparently knew Billy quite well, but they never considered that he knew Billy well enough to know about his dark past. She immediately directed that suspicion towards M.O.M's relationship with Isaac, since she was one of the few people who knew of that. _M.O.M, there was never another woman, was there? You..._

Before she could finish her thoughts, Martin had to enquire. "Why did you want Billy to tear open the door in the first place?"

"It was locked," he stated, and added on, "it was also for an intimidation factor."

Saying so, he walked into the basement, and found the group huddled around a table. "Well, look who it is," Johnny stated, "but who is it really? When we cast that identity switch spell, it is hard to tell. So, which of the boys switched with the girl?" They began to chuckle like a bunch of brats who just pulled a prank...all except Marco, who remained coldly silent.

_Magic never comes without a price, _Harold told him a while back; _it can twist and corrupt weak wills, and even comes with some catches._ Keeping an eye on Marco, he approached the boys as the rest of the group followed him down stairs.

"I'm not amused," Isaac said coldly. "So reverse the spell, and hand over that Grimoire before things get messy."

"Hey," Ben said in a loud voice,"that's _our _book, and we aren't giving it to anyone." As this was stated, Isaac noticed Marco smile coldly.

"Especially to some white-haired weirdo like you," Mike stated. "You are that white haired kid, aren't you?" And he chuckled a little.

Isaac bared his (well, Martin's) teeth angrily. "Yes, I am. And if you brats don't want to enter a world of hurt, reverse that spell you cast."

"...Really?"

The coldness in Marco's voice even caught his friend's aback. This wasn't like their old friend at all. Slowly, Marco showed the vial that contained the Frost.

"Isaac," Diana spoke, "I don't get it...but I can clearly see that he is not normal."

"Maybe he's just on a power-trip," Martin stated, confused by his sister's statement. Usually, she'd be the voice of reason in situations like this, but now that she was in Isaac's body, it seemed she sensed something was wrong with Marco. _Isaac's growing stranger by the minute, _he thought, figuring that whatever she was feeling, it was a result of being in Isaac's body.

Marco uncorked the vial, and Isaac activated the U-Watch. As the demon swirled out and materialized, Isaac selected the I-cutter. "Isaac, be careful."

As the demon leapt, Isaac swung the I-cutter in a horizontal motion. The demon split in half and dissipated into dust, scaring not only Ben, Mike and Johnny, but startling Martin and Co as well. They were stunned at how ruthlessly Isaac dispatched the construct. "Reverse the spell, NOW."

For Diana, Java and Billy, part of the shock factor was that it was Isaac who was acting through Martin's body, and were stunned to see the normally happy go-lucky Martin act so cold and ruthless. "All right," Mike said panickedly, "but Marco's the only one who can reverse the spell, since he's the only one who can read the text! He took it out of the basement of the library after all!"

Isaac's suspicions grew as he watched "Marco" open the book with a grimace. Just by getting a book doesn't mean you can read the runes inside it. Marco chanted the spell, and suddenly, Isaac found him shot through the air out of Martin's body, and back to his own. He realized this when he suddenly found himself looking at the back of Java's head.

Everyone checked themselves over, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief that they were back in their own bodies. Isaac took a glance at Marco, to sense what disturbed Diana. But he didn't sense; he **saw.** He saw that it wasn't Marco who was sitting there. Rather, it was a old, bearded man with gray, wrinkled skin that stretched across his head and hands, having grown corrupt and gruesome from dark magic and old age.

"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!"

He rammed himself into Java's back, which created a Domino effect that caused the group around the stairs to fall down to the ground. Just in the nick of time too, as an arc of indigo light disintegrated the stairs. "Martin, get away from him!"

"Don't tell me twice!" Martin leapt away as an orange bolt arced towards him, and it struck solid ground, leaving a small crater where it struck.

"WOW!" Ben said in awe. "Marco, I didn't know you could do that!"

"IDIOTS! THAT ISN'T MARCO!" Isaac screamed out.

As "Marco" stood up, only Mike managed to notice something was up, when he saw his friend's eyes turn a sickly orange, and became slitted. "He's right."

"Marco...what...?"

Shock and fear caused Mike to stand still, rather than the awe and amazement of the other two, when "Marco" drew some runes in the air, and placed his hand in the middle of them. "Don't worry, boy; I still have need for "rodents" like you."

"Hurry, RUN!" Diana shouted.

But it was too late. "Marco" shoved his hand forward against the runes, and they collided with the three boys. One blinding flash of light later where only the boys' silhouettes enlarging and changing shape could be seen, where they were only rats remained when the light cleared...giant rats as big as a human at the shoulders.

The group stared at the rats that were once human, and picked themselves up off the ground, getting ready to deal with "Marco" and the giant rats.

"Putting up with these brats has been a bother," the Sorcerer controlling Marco stated, "but now that it seems people wiser to my Grimoire's nature have come by, I decided to not delay any longer."

"So what is it," Martin asked the sorcerer, "another "Take over the world" plot after being imprisoned inside the book and out for revenge?"

"You know my kind well," the Sorcerer stated, "but it was my choice to put my soul into this Grimoire," he gestured to the book in his hand, "to maintain my power and longevity."

As Isaac heard this, the Sorcerer's appearance did change, and become more whole. No longer decrepit, he radiated malevolent power. His gaze soon fell on Isaac himself. "But the boy interests me; no ordinary human should be able to see my spirit controlling this boy."

The group stared at Isaac, and Isaac wondered the same as them: what did the Sorcerer mean? "So, I'll only toy with you until I find out this boy's secrets. After that, these rats will enjoy something else besides cheese."

It hit Diana with a cold shudder when she heard that – rats were omnivores, and these ones, she realized, would be big enough to eat humans!

"Then if you want me," Isaac said, and whipped off his trench coat, "come and get me!"

_Unbelievable, _Diana sighed at the dramatic gesture, _I never thought he'd be as hot-headed as Martin at a time like this. Does he enjoy a good fight or something?_

The sorcerer looked around at the basement. "This place is too small for my rats..." He snapped his fingers, muttered a spell, and within an instant, the entire space expanded, as well as the upstairs rooms. Due to the paradoxical nature of magic, while it looked the same from the outside, the insides were as big as, if not bigger, than a castle, and looked like a castle. "That's better...GO!"

At that, the rats leapt at the group. Java came up front and center, and wrapping his arms around one of the rat's necks, tossed it into another rats, apologizing to them in the process. After all, they were still teenagers despite their now monstrous visage. However, he couldn't reached the third rat, who batted Martin aside, and pounced on Diana, giant, clawed arms wrapped around her abdomen, slowly crushing her as it pressed her down onto the ground.

"Get your filthy hands off her, you rat!" He selected the X-rod, and slammed it down on the rat's head, and it screamed and let go of Diana. Billy pulled Diana to safety, and noticed how Isaac was doing against the Sorcerer, and began to worry. Isaac was still a boy against the most powerful sorcerer Billy had seen up to that time, even with **that, **which had been sealed away a long time ago.

Isaac was smashed hard against a stone wall, and slid down, coughing up some small drops of blood in the process. "Oh, I'm afraid that this isn't quite even."

The Sorcerer chuckled to himself as he conjured a sword out of magical power, and tossed it to Isaac. "Come, boy," he gestured, "I won't stop until **it** is out of you."

"I don't know what **it **is," Isaac stated, "but my only concern is to put you back in that Grimoire."

He gripped the sword, and charged at the Sorcerer, and the two parried and swung at each other with the grace of dancers. Billy always knew that Harold always had Isaac involved in a lot of things, and sometimes thought it'd be too much for Isaac. A part of him always wondered if he had been preparing Isaac...

He was distracted by Martin and Java's shouts of pain, as a Giant Rat's tail coated in green energy knocked them back to where Billy and Diana were. "MARTIN! JAVA!" Billy yelled out of worry.

"Don't worry Billy," Martin stated, "I've been through a lot worse."

That was true, but usually there was some natural weakness to the threat at hand. These were just High School students changed into giant rats, and with the sorcerer practically toying with Isaac, no weaknesses. Monsters with weaknesses were one thing; giant rats were surprisingly another, especially magically enhanced rats. Only force would save them, but just enough to immobilize the rats...

"This still bad," Java stated to Martin, "Java can't hurt boys."

"We know, Java," Diana told him, "none of us can." Billy helped her up. "If only we had back-up..."

"Di," Billy stated, and got out of his hovercraft with a remote, "**I'm** that back-up."

"Billy," Diana questioned in concern, "What do you...?"

"When M.O.M found there was a Demon construct involved, she got worried," Billy explained, "since only very powerful sorcerers like that one can conjure such beings. She gave me this remote in case things got ugly. By press this, I..."

"Can become Ganthar again!" Martin stated with an air of shock.

"But Billy," Diana stated, trying to talk Billy out of such a drastic measure, "you said that if you became Ganthar again..." She wrapped a hand around on his small arms, "Billy might not come back."

"I was scared of my past, Diana," Billy exclaimed. "I was afraid of reminding myself of what I used to be. But Tatsuki and that Masked Boy...Tatsuki learned to confront the ghosts of her past in the form of her brother; she no longer was scared of what she was capable of, and because I was too afraid to do anything, that Masked Boy, he..." Billy willed himself to not look over at Isaac.

"Billy..." Diana said softly. She was interrupted by the roars of the rats. When they were huge, their squeaks were no longer cute.

Billy shook his head. "I am not going to be afraid of what I am anymore." Saying this, he pressed a button on the remote, and de-activated the chip that kept him from changing shape. At the same time, the rats barrelled down on them. Diana grabbed Billy in her arms, and jumped out of the way of the rats, as did Martin and Java.

Letting Billy go, he stepped forward. "Step back, Diana; this might get ugly..."

Diana had seen Billy become Ganthar before; it was quite a painful sight, for Billy and everyone else, to see their small, two foot tall friend become a giant alien warlord 4 times bigger than Billy. Billy screamed under the strain to transform himself, as muscle, bone and blood vessels inflated, and spiky protrusions shot out of Billy's body like bullets, and his mass expanded.

Martin then tossed the X-rod to Diana, who caught it in her hands, and activated it. Still, her sights were still fixed on Billy, who had completed his transformation into his old self. "What...What is that green thing?" The Sorcerer spoke in awe.

"Billy's not a thing!" Diana rebuked the Sorcerer. "He's our friend."

Distracted by Billy's transformation, the Sorcerer was cut by Isaac, but simply dust streamed from the Sorcerer, and Isaac noticed the Grimoire glow. _Maintain his power and longevity, _Isaac thought, _in essence, it is what keeps him alive. _

As Billy stomped towards the rats, one of them shot out a brilliant green light out of its mouth. It pushed Billy back a bit, but he swatted it aside. He reached the rat, lifted it high in the air, and tossed it fiercely into a wall nearby. The wall cracked upon impact, and the rat slumped towards the floor unconscious.

After that, Martin, Diana and Java watched in awe and shock as Billy wiped the floor with the other two rats. "I'm glad he's on our side," Martin stated, "because he's one person we'd never be able to beat."

"Agreed," Diana spoke.

"We have no time to waste," He shouted. "We have to go help Isaac."

Diana realized she didn't hear Isaac fighting, but when she looked around for him, she understood why: she was on the opposite of the now massive room...and pinned to a wall. "ISAAC!" She shouted.

"Such a shame," The sorcerer stated, "and to think I was going to wait to figure out exactly what you are." He cringed as blood from Isaac's mouth poured onto his now pale, gray hands, his power having shaped Marco's complexion to his own. "Does it hurt," the Sorcerer spoke, "when I do...this?"

He wrote a rune, and slammed it onto Isaac's chest. Suddenly, the pain of Isaac's wound came back to him, and he screamed out in pain.

"LET HIM GO!"

He looked over to see everyone else running towards him. He gestured a hand towards them, and a black light formed in his hand. "I'm busy." He stated, and the group was engulfed in black energy.

"N...No..." Isaac struggled to say, as he saw the group go down. A sorrowful tear came down his eyes; all because they were trying to save him, and because he was in trouble, they were hurt so badly. He moved his left hand forward.

"They aren't dead," The Sorcerer said, as the smoke cleared, they were all lying unconscious. Even Ganthar was out cold. "Still, they will make lovely servants for my cause. I bet the girl would make a lovely Wiccan under my control." He saw Isaac's eyes burn with anger, and he knew he hit a sore spot for Isaac. "Or perhaps I should kill her," he mused on, "maybe that will-"

Isaac gurgled and spat blood on the Sorcerer's face. "You...have something to say?" He recognized those sounds as attempted last words. So he loosened his grip to hear them, and leaned in closer. He always wanted to hear last words before he consigned people to oblivion.

"...I've got your...book..."

Isaac then slammed his head into the Sorcerer's (or rather, Marco's head). He was sent reeling back, and found that the Grimoire was indeed gone. "You can't hope to wield its power," he spoke desperately, "no mortal can."

"But you said I was something **different, **didn't you?" Isaac spoke coldly.

The Sorcerer took a step back. Yes, he did see it, and now, he was beginning to see what it is. Maybe it was his magically-trained eye, or the fact that the Grimoire was in the boy's possession, but he was beginning to see...something.

"How convenient," Isaac stated, looking through the pages, "I can read these runes...Here's the one." He chanted a verse from the book, and the Sorcerer soon found his soul being sucked away from Marco's body. At that moment, in his spiritual form, he saw precisely what was hidden inside Isaac, and it was barely recognizable as Isaac at all.

"WH...WHAT ARE YOU, BOY?" He screamed in terror of the black-white tattooed figure he now saw before him, blazing blue and red eyes staring viciously at him, as his hair was half-black, half-white, split down the middle.

Isaac smiled eerily, like a Reaper claiming a victim. "I'm only human. Even so, I won't have you harm those I care about again." He finished the chant, and the sorcerer was yanked back into the Grimoire screaming, now imprisoned.

The surroundings swiftly changed back to what they used to be, as the back-lash of its casters imprisonment outside the human realm acted. Soon, they were back in the basement as if nothing happened, and the giant rats had become boys again, and Marco was slumped unconscious on the ground away from them. Diana groaned, and Isaac went to her side, and helped her up. "Isaac...did you...?"

He smiled sadly, and hugged her. "Yeah, Diana; he's locked back up in that book again." He didn't know whether or not to feel happy or not, at his first complete mission. He wouldn't forget the terror on that Sorcerer's face, not of imprisonment...but of Isaac.

After everyone was back on their feet, and the boys taken into custody, since regardless of Marco's possession, they were responsible for paranormal crimes, M.O.M came by to give her congratulations. "Good work team, Isaac." She looked down at the book, as if lamenting something. "I'm sorry; I didn't think it would turn out to be as dangerous as it is.

She cast a sad look at Isaac, who was still in no small amount of pain from his confrontation, being healed by the Center medical machines. "Don't worry about it," Isaac re-assured her, "I know the risks of being an agent now."

She smiled softly at him, and Diana's conclusion to their connection finally came through. Before she could ask, M.O.M made a decision. "Well, you did retrieve a Grimoire, and re-imprison a powerful sorcerer. I guess that's more than enough proof that you can be an agent. Because you worked so well together, I'm assigning you to Martin's team."

Isaac smiled. "Thanks, M.O.M."

No one but Diana and Billy seemed to notice a personal tone when he said it.

"Now that we're done, let's go back to Torrington," Martin said with eagerness.

"Hold on, Martin. Let's not forget about our bet," Isaac stated, "After all, we did agree that if one of us got Carla to like you or me, the loser would have to massage Java's feet. No gloves, mask _or _a rain check when the mission ended."

Martin practically crumbled at the thought, and Diana took Isaac away from Java downwind of his feet, as M.O.M left. "Isaac, I need to ask you something," Diana told Isaac, "and it's personal. I've noticed M.O.M and you acting strange around each other, and you seem to be too close for her to be just your dad's friend. So my question is: your father never had you with someone else, did he? Is…is she...?"

"Is M.O.M my actual mother?" Isaac finished, a little irritated from what Diana heard. "Yes, she is."

Diana was a little stunned. A part of her thought she would be wrong, but it seems that she really was right. "Why didn't...? I've never heard M.O.M say...she once said..."

"She isn't a real Mom," Isaac said, feeling a bit pained. He went on to explain. "I don't know why, but shortly before I turned seven, Center Black Op agents were sent after me and Dad...I don't know what happened after he was shot in the shoulder when I blacked out, but somehow, we were both safe in Japan when I came to. It always confused me until I heard two years ago about the Center, since I only thought they were men in black who attacked us for no reason. ...It was Octavia who sent them."

Diana gasped, and her hands tightened into fists in anger. _That witch tried to have Isaac and his Dad killed! _She thought angrily, but then became confused. _But why would she...?_

As if reading her thoughts, Isaac explained. "Octavia hated Mom, and it seems she hated her enough to attempt to have both me and Dad killed when M.O.M got suspicious of...well, you know the story."

Diana did know the story, but Isaac only added more questions than answers. She smiled, and placed a hand on his shoulder regardless. She wasn't going to let all these questions get to her. "That's all in the past now, Isaac. Octavia's locked away, and you are now part of the Center. Things can only get better as time goes on."

Before Isaac had time to answer, Martin screamed at how smelly Java's feet were, and Isaac and Diana started laughing at Martin's misfortune. Diana then had a thought:_ With Isaac around, thing will be different, and yet still the same._


	4. NOTICE

**NOTE: THIS FANFICTION, ALONG WITH THE OTHERS IN ITS SERIES, WILL ALL OVERGO AN OVERHAUL TO THEIR STORIES. PLEASE, READ AND REVIEW THE NEW VERSION OF THIS STORY.**

**PLEASE KNOW THAT THE MOST HEAVILY INFLUENCED PART OF NEW BEGINNING IS THE LAST CHAPTER, BUT I RECOMMEND READING THROUGH THE ENTIRE STORY.**

**YOURS TRULY,**

**SAIYAN5NINE-TAILS**


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